Recap of Chapter Three

'So eloquent, Granger. Not much of a morning person are you?' Draco mocked. 'I freed all the house elves at the manor. Some of them chose to stay – and yes, I pay them – and the others came here.' He shrugged casually, as if he went about freeing house elves as a matter of course. Hermione sipped her coffee in silence for a moment before venturing to speak again.

'Who are you and what have you done with Draco 'I'm a stuck up git' Malfoy?'

'I'm still a git, but I'm marginally less stuck up now.' To Hermione's surprise he grinned at her, and she found herself stifling a giggle.

A/N: This is a bit of a filler chapter I'm afraid, but this is a slow burn Dramione and we're in it for the long haul so suck it up my lovelies! This sets the scene for some interesting revelations in the next chapter.

Reminder: sentences in italics refer to the character's thoughts and also flashback scenes; it should be fairly obvious which is which.

Chapter Four

Draco stayed on the sofa after Hermione left to get ready for the day, after all there was no point in moving until she'd finished in the bathroom. He had plenty on his mind. Being back at Hogwarts was surreal to say the least, but it was slightly more comfortable than staying at the manor. The place held too many horrific memories of Voldemort and the Death Eaters, plus his relationship with his parents – now under house arrest for the next five years – was strained at best and it was something of a relief to get away from them.

He had been unsure of the reaction of his former housemates to his somewhat shocking return; they had been wary of him in the great hall the previous evening and he had no doubt that some wished him harm. Only Blaise Zabini had returned from his year group and they hadn't exactly been close before the war, Draco had no idea what sharing classes with him would be like. The more immediate matter on his mind however was Granger. Was he going to be kept awake every night by her blasted sobbing then woken up at ridiculous hours of the morning by her screeching? Gods, it would be a return to his sleepless state of sixth year! Okay, maybe that was a teeny bit of an exaggeration… nothing could be as bad as that he admitted to himself.

The sight of her lying in the middle of her bed in that disturbing position wasn't one that he would forget any time soon. He wasn't stupid, he had a fair idea what the nightmare had been about and could only hope that it wasn't due to a real life event, but rather the product of an overactive imagination. Yeah right, as if that's likely! It looked and sounded way too real for that. That train of thought was stopped in its tracks when he heard the distant sound of the shower stop and he got up to get ready to face his first day back at Hogwarts.

Hermione hurried out of the bathroom, making sure to lock both the bathroom door behind her and her bedroom door. There was no way she was risking Malfoy coming in while she was dressing. Having to share a bathroom with him was going to be stressful, she'd have to take care to remember to lock both doors each time she used it. As if she needed something else to worry about!

Gently Hermione patted her skin dry and started to apply dittany ointment to the painful scars on her inner thighs. Four months on and they showed little sign of healing. After securing fresh bandages she quickly donned clean underwear and trousers because she couldn't bear to look at the butchered skin any longer than absolutely necessary. Thank Circe for black trousers! The blood sometimes seeped through by the end of the day and at least she could avoid any noticeable stains this way. Next was her sturdy flesh coloured minimiser bra, designed to be invisible under a white school shirt and make her breasts look smaller, it ensured that no attention was drawn to her curves. Not that she was planning on removing her baggy school jumper or robes. No, every inch of skin possible was covered.

Heading into the great hall for breakfast she made an effort to try and slow her breathing down to avoid a panic attack and reasoned with herself that if he hadn't been there last night it meant that he hadn't come back, she would be safe. Anxiously she scanned the tables and began to relax a little when she couldn't spot him. Breathing more easily now, Hermione headed over to the Gryffindor table to sit with Ginny and Neville, ready to pretend to be cheerful.

'Where did you disappear off to last night? I thought we might have been sharing a dorm since you're the only seventh year Gryffindor girl to come back.' Ginny asked, clearly itching to know the answer.

'Good morning to you too Ginny. I'm surprised you noticed, what with being in the Head Girl's dorms,' Hermione teased, playing for time. Why hadn't she prepared for this question? Of course her absence would have been noted, she groaned internally.

'Actually I opted to stay in Gryffindor Tower, everything's familiar there and I need some kind of normality back in my life. I can just as easily do my Head Girl duties from there,' Ginny said quietly. Hermione and Neville nodded in understanding.

'McGonagall wanted to see me. She's given me separate quarters because of the, ah … so I don't disturb anyone else at night,' she faltered in her explanation. Ginny obviously knew about the night terrors because she had stayed at The Burrow since the battle, but Neville didn't. He wasn't daft however.

'Do you have nightmares? Me too, Hermione. I think a lot of us do after everything that happened.' Neville briefly placed his hand on hers but retracted it immediately when she recoiled. Ginny looked at her in surprise but Neville quickly changed the subject by announcing that the prefects were handing out timetables. Hermione flashed him a look somewhere between apologetic and grateful and snatched hers up to see what her first class of the day was. Attached was a brief note reminding her of her 2pm appointment with the headmistress. Hermione checked to see what class she would miss – Charms. Great, no doubt they'd be covering spells that would come up in the N.E.W.T.S., just her luck! She'd have to see Flitwick later to find out what she needed to catch up on.

The morning passed quickly for Hermione and she felt relieved to be in a familiar routine. Her anxiety levels started to rise again however, as she approached McGonagall's office. Giving the password to the gargoyle (pepper imps), she stepped onto the moving staircase and wondered what she was about to find out.

'Miss Granger, have a seat and help yourself to a cup of tea,' invited Professor McGonagall, gesturing towards the tea things on her desk. She was not looking forward to this meeting and knew she would shortly be bombarded with countless questions that she simply didn't have the answers to.

'I must begin by saying that this knowledge has only come to light very recently Hermione, we have not deliberately kept it from you, or at least only one of us has. Professor Snape was the Secret Keeper for what I'm about to tell you and with his death certain documents were bequeathed to me, one of them being a letter addressed to you.' Hermione noted the use of her first name and felt a sense of unease at what was coming.

'Along with your letter was one addressed to me. Severus saw fit to be sparing with the details,' the headmistress sniffed disapprovingly. 'It appears that you were adopted within days of your birth. Severus wrote that your father is unknown, but your mother was a dryad from the forests of Avalon,' she said as gently as she could.

Hermione let out a small laugh of disbelief. 'I beg your pardon, Headmistress? Could you please run that past me again?'

Minerva sighed and wondered if it would be possible to spike her tea without Hermione noticing. It looked like she was in for a long afternoon and a wee nip of gillywater – better yet, firewhisky – would be most welcome.

A/N: dum, dum, dum! No, this isn't a 'Hermione is a pureblood' story. Things are about to get interesting but I'm afraid you'll probably have to wait till Sunday for an update because tonight I shall be imbibing wine and watching Bridget Jones for the 43rd time. Happy sigh.